Media ownership and control

Traditional Marxism

The instrumental model means: it sees the media as a tool of the upper-class that is used to manipulate the lower classes. Owners want to control the media content as they want to protect their wealth and business interests.

Ways in which media owners control content

Owners will directly support a government or government policy in exchange for greater freedom to operate as they please. For e.g. in 1997 Murdoch's newspaper The Sun switched support from conservative to labour as Blair was willing to lift state controls that prevented cross media ownership.

Ways in which media owners control content no.2

Direct censorship: owners themselves change/remove content they don't like. For example, between 1974 and 1992 Murdoch read drafts and changed the content and layout of newspaper articles.

Ways in which media owners control content no.3

Self-censorship: Journalists don't write articles that go against the owners political views because they know the owners won't let editors publish them.

Ways in which media owners control content no.4

Indirect censorship: owners can undermine newspaper independence by hiring editors who share their political views and firing those who don't.

Ways in which media owners control content no.5

Media owners generate funding from advertising (a company will pay a fee to be advertised in a newspaper). Media owners may filter (alter content) to not risk offending advertisers.

The ideological role of the media

Althusser: media as an ISA- normalising capitalism: The role of the media is to shape how we think about the world, by transmitting conformist ideology that support capitalism. The audience is socialised to believe these ideological messages, which reinforces their F.C.C.

The Frankfurt school-keeping the w/c docile

The media's focus on entertainment stops people thinking about exploitation and oppression. Media products distract the w/c from the harsh realities of life instead of getting them to think about how to end their oppression. This reinforced a bread and circuses approach, meaning that the media keeps people entertained in order to keep them docile.

Transmitting a narrow range of views about inequality

There are alternative and critical points of view that are not transmitted- for example Benefits Street shows the lives of people on benefits but does not look at the wider societal causes of unemployment and a culture of benefits.

Evaluation of the traditional Marxist view

Owners can have so many business interests that they can only really control the big picture, leaving real control down to the editors.

Whale argues that media moguls are busing dealing with global business matters.

Curran argues that Rupert Murdoch's interventions in his publications are more based on commercial needs than being part of the ISA.

Neo-Marxism

Allocative control: owner have the power to define overall goals of the company and make decisions about financial resources.

Operational control: owners do not have a say in day-to-day running of the business and the content of newspaper articles- this is in the hands of editors and journalists.

What does the Neo-Marxist Curran say?

He says that a more realistic argument is required. Curran analysed the British Press from 1920 to today, looking at how much control each owner had. He argues that media owners do not aim to spread capitalist ideology but are primarily motivated by the desire to make money.

The GUMG (NM)

They argue that media content is pro-capitalist but this is in order to support the interests of the owners. It is the outcome of the social background of journalists and broadcasters. They tend to be white, m/c, male and privately educated. Editors and journalists have more control of media content than media owners.

Hegemony (NM)

Editors and journalists are presenting their pro-capitalist views as normal which creates hegemony (this is an acceptance of capitalism in society). This means that agenda setting reflects dominant capitalist ideology- e.g. a focus on street crime over corporate crime in the news reports. For example, after the 2008 recession, many journalists and politicians said cutting funds to public services and reducing benefits was the only way to reduce the economic deficit.

The new media (NM)

Neo-Marxists also differ from traditional Marxists as they accept owners have less control over the new media. The new media gives people more opportunities to get their views across to challenge hegemony e.g. BLM was used on Twitter and other social media platforms to highlight institutional racism.

Media representations (NM)

Media reps of the w/c such as the Jeremy Kyle show can reinforce hegemony by portraying the w/c as unintelligent. However other reps counterbalance this and provide a more positive image of the w/c.

Evaluation of the Neo-Marxist view

Pluralists argue that there are plenty of other media outlets that present alternative world views. If they appealed to more of the audience they would take over from other organisations.

Whale (Pluralist) argues that the views and approaches contained within the mainstream media is a result of the market demands of the mainstream audience.

Pluralism

The media has plurality, this means having a wide range of voices, opinions and analyses in media, and a diversity of media types and delivery platforms, so no single owner or voice dominates public opinion or the political agenda.

The audience has the most freedom to choose which media they consume.

Why owners do not control media content

The market model/ supply and demand: In free market economy, media owners compete against each other in order to attract people to their product. Pluralists argue that readers, viewers and listeners are the real power holders because they exercise consumer sovereignty which is the right to buy or not to buy.

Audience segmentation: Because media organisations must produce varied content for diverse groups (e.g, youth music channels, minority-interest magazines, sports networks, lifestyle blogs), it becomes impossible for owners to promote one consistent message or ideology across all platforms.

Why owners do not control media content

Practical issues- owners lack time: Pluralists argue that the diversity of media products worldwide means that is is practically impossible for owners to influence their content. For e.g, it is doubtful whether Rupert Murdoch has the time or capability to control the content of dozens of his newspapers he owns.

Why owners do not control media content

The media as a democratic mirror- if some viewpoints have greater range of media representing them, this is not necessarily biased. It merely mirrors what the audience wants or sees as important.

Public service broadcasting: Pluralists point out that a significant share of the media market in the UK is taken up by public service broadcasting (PBS)- media outlets controlled by the state, which have a worldwide reputation for impartiality. The BBC has stressed the importance of impartiality in reporting the news.

Why owners do not control media content

State controls: Pluralists note that the power of media owners is also restricted by the state or government controls. For example, in some societies, governments do not allow owners to own too many media or different types of media, in order to reduce the possibility that one person's or group's view or products might become too dominant.

Why owners do not control media content

Media professionalism: Pluralists argue that day-to-day content is produced by trained journalists who follow professional norms such as objectivity, balance and accuracy (link to FATSID- selection of the news). This prevents owners from directly interfering in routine content, even if they wanted to.

Evaluation of the Pluralist view

Blumer and Gurevitch point out that many journalists are over-reliant on official sources- particularly politicians and the police for information and stories, and this undermines journalistic objectivity.

Powerless groups do not have the resources to set up media companies to communicate their point of view. Consumers do not have access to a diversity of opinions.

Postmodernism

We live in a media saturated society- this means people are exposed to media messages very day and it is impossible for individual owners or editors to control what is out there.

What is the Postmodernist view?

Owners of the media are increasingly losing control over content as a lot of it is produced by the audience.

Levene- the internet provides a greater diversity of information

He argues that audiences have greater choice and access to a wide range of media, making it easier to reject or challenge the views of powerful groups. Through user-generated content, individuals can create and share their own messages, leading to a greater diversity of perspectives and enabling social change, such as #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter. This demonstrates how the traditional distinction between media producers and consumers has become increasingly blurred.

Media messages- polysemic

Media messages in postmodernity are polysemic. Each media message is interpreted in different ways. E.g. some people see the same news report as left wing or right-wing. So even if owners put ideological messages in content it would not have the desired effect.

Evaluation of the postmodernist view

Levene is far too optimistic about the ability of the audience members to control the narrative and bring about social change. As such audience led messages often exist in a social media bubble where messages appear to be liked and shared very widely but they are largely circulated among a self selecting community who already agree with each other.